No. 36: Hu Tieu at Pho Crystal Noodle House

The grime on the windows suggest that Pho Crystal Noodle House has been there on Bristol Street for quite a while--at least as another pho joint. The artifacts of its former life as Pho Bistro is still on an old marquee the landlords hadn't bothered to change. Apparently it recently changed hands because they're still in that honeymoon period where they give out free bowls of che dessert to every customer. But for all intents, the menu looks no different than what it probably was under the last set of owners. Pho is featured in all the usual permutations; rice dishes and crispy noodles fill in the rest; and then there's the hu tieu, which is what I usually order at pho joints...yes, call me a rebel.

This one is lovely. I opted for mi for my noodle, thin yellow strands that still had a nice al dente chew, and there were more shrimp in the bowl than the picture above would suggest--at least two more. But there was also more char siu, those indispensable slices of red food-colored Chinese BBQ pork that's become the workhorse of soups like this.

There was slowly wilting lettuce and, most important of all, a broth clear and sweet, like sugar was involved. A squeeze of lemon rounded it off and bubbles of fat--possibly leeching out the piece of fried chicken they dropped in there--skittered and gleamed on the surface of the liquid.

Yes, fried chicken. There's a piece of fried chicken in the soup. You gnaw it at first by trying to grip the thing with your chopsticks; but then later, you go to town with your hands. To eat it without licking your fingers is impossible...which is the point of fried chicken, I think.

Edwin Goei was born on the island of Java, grew up in La Habra, studied in Irvine, and eats everywhere. Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, he went by the alias "elmomonster" on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.